Michael Kors: Calmness at noon

The reigning king of sophisticated American sportswear Michael Kors has rarely seemed in better form, as he greeted fans at noon on Thursday after his latest sleek show.

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His spring/summer 2026 collection and show was a testament to how – 44 years after opening his brand – Michael still has the most acute sense of what women want.

As was seen in this show, staged with aplomb and jaunty precision inside a giant restored redbrick warehouse close to the Hudson River. And greeted with enthusiasm by Michael’s front row – crammed with some stunning stars and by a catwalk featuring a beautiful multi-generational cast.

Mobile phone-wielding editors went into a feeding frenzy pre-show when Gwyneth Paltrow showed up to sit front row beside Olivia Wilde, surrounded by a phalanx of influencers and socialites like Nicky Hilton. Paltrow looking almost preternaturally young. Then again, the whole point of her wellness empire Goop is precisely to achieve that effect.

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Though the biggest drama was on the soundtrack – a brilliant mash-up by ace French DJ Sébastien Léger, a mélange of the Paris Philharmonic Orchestra playing over the late great Marianne Faithfull’s “The Ballad of Lucy Jordan”.
 
Kors opening looks wafted nonchalance and nerve: racy white silk blouses worn open to the navel and finished with shiny silver amulets; singlets paired with billowing dhoti pants; or perfectly ruched sheathes worthy of a modern-day Greek goddess.
 
Chic but always practical – most looks anchored with thick-heeled sandals; many bags made of softest calf leather that folded happily inside a fist.
 
In tailoring, he cut oversized and sleeveless tuxedo jackets, or belted lapel-free blazers. Though his sprucest looks were a series of perforated leather trenches and dresses. And his most imposing in a gilded finale – the divine golden trench worn by South Sudanese beauty Adut Akech.
 

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“I wanted to show people that you can be sexy without being obvious. That watching beautiful clothes move is how we live our lives,” explained Kors post-show, on the opening official day of New York Fashion Week.
 
Most passages accessorized by leather tassels, used on the trim of totes or even as earrings, while necklines were finished with chunky wooden bauble necklaces.
 
One sensed the whole cast felt very at home in every look, and ready to exit the show into the sunshine outside with enthusiasm.
 
“I wanted everything to have that softness but still a tailored kind of attitude. And maybe taking people to a place where they feel a little sense of calm. The world is not calm today. And we need calm,” explained the designer, as the clock struck noon.